The Hour Has Come -- Part 1
In the next few posts, I’d like us to take a look at what many refer to as the true Lord’s Prayer. It is Jesus the Son talking to the Father in John 17. Let’s look at the first few verses…
Joh 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
Joh 17:2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Joh 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
Joh 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Joh 17:7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
Joh 17:8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
—John 17:1-8
We often see Jesus say ‘the hour has not yet come’ when referring to something in a way which does not fit the timeline Him, the Father, and Spirit are working on. Here, we see Jesus say the opposite. Now, the hour HAS come. For what exactly? For Jesus to return to heavenly glory. We see Jesus state that here in verse 5. Jesus knows His earthly ministry is coming to an end. In the next chapter we see Jesus arrested before He is beaten, crucified, raised from the dead, and finally ascended back to heaven. I’d like us to consider a question that will likely result in many different answers — What exactly was Jesus’ earthly ministry? Some may point to His miracles, healings, and teaching which were all great things He did, but are those the things Jesus points to here? Let’s take a look.
You have given Him (the Son) authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. (John 17:2)
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.
(John 17:6)
For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. (John 17:8)
If the theme of ‘I have the authority, tell of His name, and teach them in the word of God’ seems familiar, perhaps it’s because these are the final words Jesus speaks to His disciples in the ‘Great Commission’…
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:18-20
Hmm, it’s almost like Jesus was modeling the ministry we are to have as His followers. I wonder if Jesus leading off His prayer to the Father by highlighting what His earthly ministry was truly about has any significance for us. Would Jesus really be THAT intentional? More to come…